"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Lord unchain my hands
let me sing inside the crowded trams
let me dance among the traffic jams
we're going to sleep
on the St Kilda sands
Lord unbind my feet
let me mingle with the good people we meet
water rising up into the street
unbind my feet
'The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
petals on a wet black bough'
Ezra Pound found the formula
our houses are rectangular
but life is curved not angular
so when things start to strangular
remember
rain still falls on the halls of power
new babies being born every hour
and the eagle keeps watch on the old
clock tower
over me. . .
On the train I refrain from sitting with
head and shoulders bowed
they told me time is of the essence
no wandering allowed
but then I saw a pretty girl
whos features stood out in the crowd
went ten minutes past my stop waiting for
her to look around
I'm just another clown kicking around in
Melbourne town
cooling out, relaxing watching the
world go round
so if you ever have the time
and you want to go drink some wine
I'd rather greet you with a smile
than greet you with a frown. . .
Lord unchain my hands
let me sing inside the crowded trams
let me dance among the traffic jams
we're going to sleep
on the St Kilda sands
Lord unbind my feet
let me mingle with the good people
we meet
water rising up into the street
unbind my feet
let me sing inside the crowded trams
let me dance among the traffic jams
we're going to sleep
on the St Kilda sands
Lord unbind my feet
let me mingle with the good people we meet
water rising up into the street
unbind my feet
'The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
petals on a wet black bough'
Ezra Pound found the formula
our houses are rectangular
but life is curved not angular
so when things start to strangular
remember
rain still falls on the halls of power
new babies being born every hour
and the eagle keeps watch on the old
clock tower
over me. . .
On the train I refrain from sitting with
head and shoulders bowed
they told me time is of the essence
no wandering allowed
but then I saw a pretty girl
whos features stood out in the crowd
went ten minutes past my stop waiting for
her to look around
I'm just another clown kicking around in
Melbourne town
cooling out, relaxing watching the
world go round
so if you ever have the time
and you want to go drink some wine
I'd rather greet you with a smile
than greet you with a frown. . .
Lord unchain my hands
let me sing inside the crowded trams
let me dance among the traffic jams
we're going to sleep
on the St Kilda sands
Lord unbind my feet
let me mingle with the good people
we meet
water rising up into the street
unbind my feet
Lyrics submitted by Lomiothiel
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Fast Car
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this is a cool song...very chilled . does anyone know who the female voice is? it works so well with harry's!
peace!
i love this song. one of my fave cat empire songs. makes me smile.
This song always makes me feel happy when i'm depressed, it just too good!!!
There are some absolutely amazing lyrics in this song. Just read the verses, they are incredible.
"Our houses are rectangular, but life if curved; not angular".
As a Melbournian myself, there's a kind of sense of relation with the city when you listen to this song. Makes me so happy.
one of my favorite songs of all time. it seems to be a cry out for more freedom, relaxed atmosphere, more relaxed society, and freedom of expression. the band is expressing their dislike of the crowded, busy, grumpy society with traffic jams and crowded trams. "they told me time is of the essence no wandering allowed" 'they' i belive to be society in general, telling him to always be doing something productive and denying them being able to do what they want to 'wandering'
'our houses are rectangular but life is curved not angular' = objects are definate things which cannot mvoe, but life is not supposed to be like that. it shouldnt be as regulated. it needs more flexebility
'rain still falls on the halls of power' = bad thigns still happen to the elite, depression etc. it is not like a utpotia you should spend your entire life working hard for to achieve. they are telling us to do more what we want to in life.
oh and anyone know where 'st. kilda' is? i am guessing it is a beach where you can lie down and relax.
well if this is what they mean i am completely agreeing with them, which is one of the reasons i like this song so much
is anyone else obsessed with the brass line at about the 3 minute 25 second mark of this song? its just me? okay. this is one of my favourite cat empire songs, love chilling out to it :) by the way, st. kilda is a beach in melbourne, where the cat empire are from. ryan says this song identifies most with melbourne and is like a "homesick" song for them when theyre on tour.
this song is the anthem for melbourne, everything from this song, from the lyrics, the tunes, Harry's singing give the essence of melbourne. god i miss the city so much, and this songs brings back memories from those times in melbourne.
"let me sing inside the crowded trams" is definitely Melbourne-esque.
This song is just about chilling out in Melbourne, and relaxing, and realising societies ideals of happiness (eg. money and fancy things) wont make you as happy as just hanging around a city you love with the people you love.
The part at 3:34 when Harry screams 'Unchaaaaain my hands' blows me away every time.
Definately about chilling out in Melb.
The one I noticed was "the eagle keeps watch, on the old club tower over me(eeeeee)" I'm presuming this is a reference to CCTV cameras. Is there one on the club tower in Melbourne?
I think it's "And the eagle keeps watch on the old clocktower over me(eeeeeee)"<br /> <br /> As in the clocktower in St Kilda, here: flickr.com/photos/sonofwalrus/4494820814/<br /> <br /> But I can't see any eagle ornament on there. Anyone live close in Melb who can go and check?<br /> <br /> Unless he's just talking about a metaphorical eagle. But it's just a lovely detail about the place, that probably most people don't notice. Such great songwriting.